Holiday songs; Chances are, on seeing those words your face either lights up… or scrunches up.

There is, after all, a very long and time-honored tradition of musicians embracing the Christmas spirit, at least for a month. These are also your most profitable times, whether you’re looking to sell music on iTunes or anywhere else. 20% of all music sales occur during the holidays, so this may be a bandwagon worth jumping on.

Of course, cheesy cash-in holiday songs can annoy anyone as much as inspire. Plus, isn’t that what aging rock bands do once they’ve given up on hitting the charts again?

Obviously, image has a lot to do with this. If you’re a folk singer, go ahead and record an album of holiday standards – it’s pretty much expected, although if you’re into death metal, not so much. (Although a “Black Christmas” album would have novelty value, even if it sounds like a Spinal Tap project…)

That said, even if you’re not into embracing the spirit of the holidays, you can still make use of the holiday boom!

•Holiday Concerts – Get into the spirit of the holidays with your shows. Plenty of bands have made it a tradition to put on one of their best shows of the year for Christmas or for New Years.

•Sales – Seriously, if you’re looking to sell music on iTunes or anywhere else online this holiday season, start discounting. This is one of the few times of the year you can undercut your usual rates without people coming to expect cheaper music.

•Social Media Promotions – Rather than putting up your own decorations, invite fans to cover your social media profiles with pictures of their creations! This is especially good if you have a large fan base on Instagram, Pinterest, or other visual sites.

•Novelty Songs – If the holiday thing isn’t for you, try a novelty or anti-holiday song. There are still plenty of people collecting snarky holiday songs for their mixtapes.

And, of course, it’s not too late to join Songcast and get your music online and across the web just in time for the holidays!